The get-out-the-vote campaign was in full swing ahead of last week's general election in Britain, but not everyone who was invited cast a vote. Take for instance Blossom, of Uckfield, England. She got a letter encouraging her to vote but ignored it. Mostly because she is a pig. That's not to be mean. Blossom is actually a pig. Pauline Grant told the Daily Telegraph that Blossom gets a lot of junk mail because her name accidentally got on an official paper a couple of years ago. But she says Blossom had no real interest in the race. "She is a very clever animal, but I think politics might be a bit complicated for her," she said. Asked Blossom's probable party affiliation, Grant guessed Green. "They would probably look after her needs best." Election officials confirmed that no pigs voted in the precinct.

Made for TV meeting

Tallest men have a short meeting in Va.

When the world's tallest man, Sultan Kosen, who stands 8-foot-1, was in Norfolk, Va., it only made sense for him to stop in and see George Bell, who is 7-foot-8 and the tallest man in America. The two got together for a British television documentary and hung out at the city jail, where Bell works, and a restaurant with high ceilings. Bell, 52, told the Virginian-Pilot that it was weird to be able to look someone in the eye like that. "I didn't feel small-small," Bell said, "but it was a different feeling." He also gave the younger giant a little advice: "Stand tall and be proud of yourself."

Lover's lane

Instead of jumping, they fell in love

It's so rare for a suicide story to have a happy ending. And this one has two suicide attempts. Andriej Ivanov, 26, was devastated after a car accident killed his fiancée, so he decided that he would jump off a bridge in Ufa, Russia. That's where he met Maria Petrova, 21, who was there because her family shunned her after she got pregnant. "Something in my heart snapped," Ivanov said, and apparently meant it in the good way, because he stopped her from jumping, and now they are in love and talking about getting married. "All that pain was worthwhile because it led me to my Andriej," Petrova said.

Boom

They move mine, but not far enough

Workers were repairing a street in Maragogi, Brazil, when they found a World War II-era sea mine. Authorities reacted with due diligence, removing the ordnance by bulldozer to a remote beach, where the plan was to explode it where it could do no harm. Which was a good plan, except that when the mine was detonated, the blast shattered windows and knocked off roof tiles up to four miles away. But no one was hurt, so they scored there.

Compiled from Times wire services and other sources by staff writer Jim Webster, who can be reached at jwebster@sptimes.com.